Fatimata Sy on Partnering to Expand Access to ContraceptivesBy Ruchika Tulshyan,
Contributor, The OptimistJanuary 17, 2019Fatimata Sy talks to The Optimist about her work, the future of family planning, and her own audacious personal goal.When it launched in 2011, theOuagadougou Partnership set an audacious goal for 2020: Increase the number of women using modern contraceptives by at least 2.2 million in nine francophone West African countries.Historically, not many women in the region used contraceptives because of socio-cultural factors and infrastructure challenges. But members of the Partnership were determined to prove that with the right approach, family pla...Source: IntraHealth International - January 17, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: cbishopp Tags: Ouagadougou Partnership Coordination Unit Family Planning & Reproductive Health Source Type: news

Ouagadougou Partnership Countries on Track to Meet 2020 Family Planning GoalsDecember 19, 2018At the 7th annual meeting of theOuagadougou Partnership last week, about 350 delegates from more than a dozen countries came together to celebrate the partnership ’s successes and progress toward its goals, including reaching 2.2 million more people in nine francophone West African countries with modern family planning methods by 2020.The Ouagadougou Partnership is a coalition of government officials, religious leaders, civil society members, and youth representatives from nine countries —Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo—wo...Source: IntraHealth International - December 19, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: cbishopp Tags: Family Planning & Reproductive Health Source Type: news

WHO confirms case of yellow fever in Netherlands, says risk lowA case of yellow fever, an acute and contagious mosquito-borne viral disease, has been reported in a man in the Netherlands who recently traveled to Gambia and Senegal, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. (Source: Reuters: Health)Source: Reuters: Health - December 18, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: healthNews Source Type: news

Yellow Fever – Kingdom of the NetherlandsOn 22 November 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed by Dutch authorities of a laboratory-confirmed case of yellow fever. The case-patient is a 26 year-old male who visited Gambia from 3 through 17 November 2018, with a three day trip to Senegal from 12 through 14 November. He had no history of vaccination for yellow fever prior to the trip. On 18 November 2018, the case-patient developed symptoms including fever, nausea and vomiting. On19 November 2018 he was hospitalized with symptoms of acute liver failure and he is still in hospital as of 10 December. The International Health Regulations National Focal...Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks - December 18, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: news Source Type: news

New Field Test Discerns Between Ebola and Lookalike FeversAt the close of the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola crisis, the Paul G. Allen Foundation identified diagnostic gaps as one of the major deficiencies that had contributed to the outbreakâs spread.
âThe standard diagnostic tests that exist are very good, but theyâre hard to do out in the field in the middle of an outbreak like we saw in West Africa,â said John Connor, a virologist at the Boston University National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory (NEIDL). Instead, samples need to be sent to a facility capable of running the tests, which means it could...Source: MDDI - December 13, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Amanda Pedersen Tags: IVD Source Type: news

Political Commitment Key to Health for AllKenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta (L) and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations Offices in Nairobi, October 30, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Thomas MukoyaBy Ban Ki-moonNAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 12 2018 (IPS)One of my proudest accomplishments as the former UN secretary-general was playing a part in the ambitious global agenda for sustainable development (SDGs), including the goal of universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030. Kenya’s leadership was key. To give momentum to the SDGs an Open Working Group was established in 2013. One of the co-chairs of the working group was Ambassador Macharia Kamau, who was the...Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - December 12, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Ban Ki-moon Tags: Africa Development & Aid Economy & Trade Featured Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Labour Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Women & Economy Women's Health Source Type: news

Health Systems & #039; Capacity to Provide Post-Abortion Care: A Multicountry Analysis Using Signal FunctionsSummary
Background Abortion-related mortality is one of the main causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Laws often restrict the provision of safe abortion care, yet post-abortion care is a service that all countries have committed to provide to manage abortion complications. There is minimal evidence on the capacity of national health systems to provide post-abortion care.Methods
We did a multicountry analysis of data from nationally representative Service Provision Assessment surveys done between 2007 to 2017 in ten countries across three regions (Bangladesh, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanza...Source: The Guttmacher Institute - November 30, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Guttmacher Source Type: news

E-Commerce Giants Under Fire for Retailing Hazardous Mercury-Based CosmeticsBy Thalif DeenNEW YORK, Nov 16 2018 (IPS)A coalition of over 50 civil society organizations (CSOs), from more than 20 countries, have urged two of the world’s largest multi-billion dollar E-commerce retailers – Amazon and eBay – to stop marketing “dangerous and illegal mercury-based skin lightening creams.” The protest is part of a coordinated global campaign against a growing health hazard in the field of cosmetics.So far, the groups have reached out to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) and INTERPOL, the Lyon-based internation...Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - November 16, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Thalif Deen Tags: Editors' Choice Environment Featured Global Global Governance Headlines Health IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Mercury Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news

Stronger Referral Systems Are Saving Lives in SenegalNovember 14, 2018Communities in two regions can now transport urgent cases from health huts to larger facilities —and more are following suit.en fran çaisImagine you are a mother in a remote village and your one-year-old daughter is diagnosed with severe malaria. If left untreated, it will kill her. Imagine that the nurse at the nearest health post tells you he doesn ’t have the medicine necessary to help your daughter.Imagine there is no ambulance, no safety net, and no way for you to get her the urgent help she needs, leaving you with one unimaginable option —watching her die. In Seneg...Source: IntraHealth International - November 14, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: mnathe Source Type: news

Senegal:Outbreak of 'Dengue' in Neighbouring Senegal How Prepared Is the Gambia?[Foroyaa] Information coming from the sister Republic of Senegal, report an outbreak of 'Dengue', a viral disease spread by mosquitoes. The outbreak is said to have been first reported in late September in the Fatick region of Senegal, but this has since spread to the rest of that country. Latest reports indicate that tens of cases have been reported in the Fatick, Diourbel, Saint Louis and Louga Regions of Senegal, and the Government of President Maki Sall, has embarked on a vigorous fumigation campaign aimed at el (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - October 31, 2018 Category: African Health Source Type: news

In Six Francophone West African Cities, Mayors Are Serious about Investing in Family PlanningOuagadougou, Burkina Faso, is one of the cities now committing its own resources to launch new family planning and reproductive health activities. Photo by Trevor Snapp for IntraHealth International.September 24, 2018en fran çaisIn francophone West Africa, a new method of addressing family planning is taking hold as mayors become more engaged in planning for their communities ’ health and economic development goals. In the last 18 months, mayors and local officials from six cities in four countries have begun reproductive health initiatives thanks to guidance and funding fromthe Challenge Initiative (TCI).In a...Source: IntraHealth International - September 24, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: mnathe Source Type: news

New Project Will Use Behavioral Science to Improve Family Planning Services in UgandaSeptember 17, 2018How can insights into individual behaviors and decisions improve the family planning and reproductive health services Ugandan health workers provide their clients? Through a new award from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, IntraHealth International and ideas42 are teaming up to answer this question.The new research project, called Scale-Up and Capacity Building in Behavioral Science to Improve the Uptake of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services (SupCap, for short) will improve the health and well-being of women of reproductive age in Eastern Uganda by helping increase the modern contrac...Source: IntraHealth International - September 17, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: mnathe Source Type: news

Senegal ’s New Roadmap for a Gender Transformative Human Resource Management PolicySeptember 07, 2018The country is taking steps to change the working lives of health workers —particularly women. Female health workers in Senegal not only juggle full-time jobs during the day and work a “second shift” when the get home at night, but they are often deployed to health posts far from home. This can exacerbate interpersonal and family conflict, including with their spouses. It can also create delays and bottlenecks in the services they provide to their clients.The Senegal Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (MSAS) recognized the need to be more responsive to these and other issues of g...Source: IntraHealth International - September 7, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: mnathe Source Type: news

Nigeria:Nigeria, 46 Others Commit to Ending Cholera Outbreaks By 2030[Leadership] Nigeria and 46 other African countries have adopted the Regional Framework for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for Cholera Prevention and Control at the ongoing 68th session of the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s Regional Committee for Africa, in Dakar, Senegal. According to WHO, health ministers from 47 African countries, at the meeting, have pledged to implement key strategies for ending cholera outbreaks in the region by 2030. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - September 1, 2018 Category: African Health Source Type: news

West Africa:Overcoming Stigma to Promote Inclusiveness of Drug Users in Senegal[OSIWA] Throughout several working class neighborhoods in Dakar you find large semi-finished houses that are occasionally equipped with running water and electricity. The rooms in these houses are rented out by individuals and families for days, months or years. Far from prying eyes, it was in one of the small cramped rooms in the neighborhood of Gueule Tap ée that I met with four men in their mid-40's and 50's, who are active drug users struggling addiction. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - August 20, 2018 Category: African Health Source Type: news

Transforming Food Systems: Today ’s Realities and Tomorrow’s ChallengesThis report looks at all the impacts of the value chain, from farm to fork to disposal, including effects on livelihoods, the environment, and health. It identifies theories and pathways for transformational change in government, business, farming, and consumer contexts while providing a framework for evaluation that supports the comprehensive, universal and inclusive assessment of eco-agri-food systems.Recognizing the interlinkages, in terms of impacts and dependencies that food systems have with our economies, societies, health, and environment is a crucial first step. Using the report’s Framework and its language ...Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - August 1, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Alice Lloyd Tags: Biodiversity Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Food & Agriculture Global Green Economy Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news

Africa:Results of the 2020 population and housing censuses must be used to inform development planning and decision-making[UNFPA in WCA] Dakar, Senegal -- 27 July 2018: The results of the 2020 round of population and housing censuses must be analyzed, available, widely disseminated and timely utilized to inform development planning and decision making at national and local levels, including investments in youth and women, to harness the demographic dividend. The 2020 round of censuses will also help to position the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide technical support to help countries obtain quality data and statistical (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - July 28, 2018 Category: African Health Source Type: news

Flipping the switch: Making use of carbon price dollars for health and education(Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)) A switch from subsidizing fossil fuel to pricing CO2-emissions would not only help to meet global climate targets but also create additional domestic public revenues.These revenues could finance expenses towards sustainable development, improving health-care, education and infrastructure for energy, transportation or clean water. India could cover more than 90 percent of its needs to finance progress towards these sustainability goals. This could also be an attractive option for countries like Nigeria, Burundi and Senegal. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - July 16, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news

Contraceptive Implants Are Driving Big Gains in Access to Family PlanningJuly 10, 2018On the road to universal access to family planning, what really gets results? And what's next?Today, nearly two-thirds of all married or in-union women (64%) worldwide are using contraception,according to the United Nations—from 36% in 1970. And sexually active unmarried women are also using contraception at high rates.The right of women and men to freely plan the number and spacing of their children continues to be auniversally recognized human right. And voluntary family planning —with access to a wide range of contraceptive method options, competent service providers, and supportive health...Source: IntraHealth International - July 10, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: mnathe Source Type: news

How a Drug For Pets May Help Prevent Zika and MalariaDiseases spread by pests like mosquitoes and fleas remain global health problems. To prevent transmission, public health strategy has largely focused on using insecticides or bed nets. Vaccines are also under development for diseases like Zika, but few are approved for use. Now, a new study suggests that medicines already used for pets to protect against fleas and ticks could offer similar protection for humans.
In the report, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the nonprofit drug discovery institute Calibr and TropIQ Health Sciences report that drugs called isoxa...Source: TIME: Health - July 2, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alexandra Sifferlin Tags: Uncategorized healthytime Innovation Health public health Source Type: news

How a Drug For Pets May Help Prevent Zika and MalariaDiseases spread by pests like mosquitoes and fleas remain global health problems. To prevent transmission, public health strategy has largely focused on using insecticides or bed nets. Vaccines are also under development for diseases like Zika, but few are approved for use. Now, a new study suggests that medicines already used for pets to protect against fleas and ticks could offer similar protection for humans.
In the report, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the nonprofit drug discovery institute Calibr and TropIQ Health Sciences report that drugs called isoxa...Source: TIME: Science - July 2, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Alexandra Sifferlin Tags: Uncategorized healthytime Innovation Health public health Source Type: news

Sahel in the Throes of a Major Humanitarian CrisisA mother caresses the head of her sleeping malnourished baby, at the mother and child centre in the town of Diffa, Niger. Credit: UNICEF/TremeauBy Mark LowcockUNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 2018 (IPS)I am increasingly concerned by the situation in the Sahel. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, nearly 6 million people are struggling to meet their daily food needs. Severe malnutrition threatens the lives of 1.6 million children. These are levels unseen since the crisis of 2012, and the most critical months are still ahead. Governments in the region were successful in beating back the crisis six years ago. I a...Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - June 13, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Mark Lowcock Tags: Africa Aid Armed Conflicts Headlines Health Human Rights Labour Peace Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news

WHO Reports 'Strong progress' in Calming Congo Ebola OutbreakDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — "Strong progress" has been made in calming Congo's deadly Ebola outbreak in a city of 1.2 million and in the rural outpost where the epidemic was declared one month ago, the World Health Organization said Friday, but now the focus turns to "some of the most remote territory on Earth."
Health officials expressed cautious optimism as the pace of new cases has slowed. Congo's health ministry late Thursday announced a new confirmed Ebola case, bringing the total to 38, including 13 deaths.
The new case is in the remote Iboko health zone in Congo's northwest. Health workers also h...Source: JEMS Patient Care - June 9, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Carley Petesch, Associated Press Tags: Patient Care News Source Type: news

WHO Reports 'Strong progress' in Calming Congo Ebola OutbreakDAKAR, Senegal (AP) — "Strong progress" has been made in calming Congo's deadly Ebola outbreak in a city of 1.2 million and in the rural outpost where the epidemic was declared one month ago, the World Health Organization said Friday, but now the focus turns to "some of the most remote territory on Earth."
Health officials expressed cautious optimism as the pace of new cases has slowed. Congo's health ministry late Thursday announced a new confirmed Ebola case, bringing the total to 38, including 13 deaths.
The new case is in the remote Iboko health zone in Congo's northwest. Health workers also h...Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - June 9, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Carley Petesch, Associated Press Tags: Patient Care News Source Type: news

The politics of risk policies in Dakar, Senegal - Leclercq R.Over the last 20 years, floods have become a major issue for a number of Sahelian cities leading each year to considerable human and material damage. This relatively new phenomenon is usually attributed to uncontrolled urbanization and climate variability,... (Source: SafetyLit)Source: SafetyLit - May 14, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Disaster Preparedness Source Type: news

New research: High risk of malaria transmission after blood transfusions in sub-Saharan Africa(Burness) A new study suggests that in high transmission areas of sub-Saharan Africa, nearly one in four blood bank supplies contain the parasites that cause malaria. Additional research, focusing on the blood supply of Equatorial Guinea's capital, Malabo, found slightly higher levels of latent malaria infection, most of it -- more than 89 percent -- at a level that commonly used diagnostic technology cannot detect. Both studies were presented at the 7th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan African Malaria Conference in Dakar, Senegal. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - April 16, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news

Out of West Africa: human smuggling as a social enterprise - Maher S.Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic research in Senegal, this article focuses on the sociality of migrant facilitation. Although it has become relatively common in media and policy reports to suggest that irregular migrants are manipulated by greedy and u... (Source: SafetyLit)Source: SafetyLit - April 10, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Jurisprudence, Laws, Legislation, Policies, Rules Source Type: news

ILO Fails to Cut Ties with Tobacco Industry – Yet AgainCredit: BigstockBy Tih NtiabangYAOUNDE, Mar 20 2018 (IPS)Last week, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) governing body postponed yet again a decision to stop accepting money from the tobacco industry for its projects to end child labour in the tobacco growing sector.A majority of countries and workers in the governing body want to finally break financial ties with the tobacco industry. However, there is still opposition from the employers group and a few countries, mostly in the African region.The tobacco industry has more to gain from its ties with the ILO than countries themselves. No more postponements. ...Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - March 20, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tih Ntiabang Tags: Africa Development & Aid Headlines Health Population Poverty & SDGs International Labour Organization (ILO) Source Type: news

How Senegal Rapidly Introduced Sayana Press into Its Family Planning Method MixMarch 19, 2018Commitment and collaboration pave the way for the successful introduction of a new contraceptive.In Senegal, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) doubled within a decade, rising from 10% in 2005 to 21.2% in 2015. This increase has placed Senegal at the forefront of the international family planning movement.The country has adopted a vision for family planning based on what ’s knowns as the three Ds—democratization, decentralization, and demedicalization—and has set a very ambitious goal to reach 45% mCPR by 2020.One of the guiding principles of Senegal ’s Min...Source: IntraHealth International - March 19, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: intrahealth Source Type: news

Failing Forward: Innovative Approaches to Improve Reproductive Health in SenegalMarch 14, 2018We found what works for real people. But that's not where we started.In any given field, the top 10% of performers produce more than 50% of the big breakthroughs. What is the key to these superstars’ success?Fortunately for most of us, the answer is not raw talent or even expertise. The truth is, these top performers produce as many bad ideas as everyone else —but, crucially, they learn from their failures and continue to innovate. Iteration has been shown to improve performance across a range of fields.You ’ll hear this right from the source, too—Jeff Bezos,...Source: IntraHealth International - March 14, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: mnathe Source Type: news

Rift Valley fever – GambiaOn 3 January 2018, the Ministry of Health (MoH), Senegal notified WHO of a case of Rift Valley fever, a 52-year-old Korean man who was a resident of Gambia. The case was reported from a hospital in Dakar. (Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks)Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks - February 26, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: news Source Type: news

Africa:UNFPA presents its 2017 Progress Report on the Demographic Dividend[UNFPA in WCA] Dakar, Senegal -- 22 February 2018: The United Nations Population Fund West and Central Africa Regional Office (UNFPA WCARO), in collaboration with the African Group of Ambassadors in Dakar, is to present its 2017 progress report on the state of the demographic dividend on 26 February 2018, at 9:00, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dakar, Senegal. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - February 22, 2018 Category: African Health Source Type: news